Come in swinger: Gillespie raves over Starc's vicious yorkers

FORMER Test paceman Jason Gillespie wants Mitchell Starc to continue the vicious swinging yorkers that have kept the gentle giant in company with some of the scariest speed demons the game has seen.

FORMER Test paceman Jason Gillespie wants Mitchell Starc to continue the vicious swinging yorkers that have kept the gentle giant in company with some of the scariest speed demons the game has seen.

While Starc strives to find the balance between attack and defence, several Sri Lankan and South African batsmen have already learnt this summer that the left-armer cannot be stopped when his radar is on.

The youngster's ability to sound the death rattle is up there with some of the most frightening fast bowlers the game has seen.

Though still early in his career, one-third of Starc's 24 Test wickets have been the result of sending the bails flying - a proportion that exceeds former sultans of swing Wasim Akram (24.63 per cent) and Waqar Younis (27.34 per cent), and feared quicks Michael Holding (32.53 per cent) and Graham McKenzie (28.04 per cent).

Gillespie, who is in sixth spot for most Test wickets taken by an Australian, believed the yorker was one of the most underused and undervalued balls in modern cricket.

Batsmen are rarely beaten for pace when set, especially when well into three figures, which is testament to the yorker Starc landed to bowl over Tillakaratne Dilshan in Hobart.

His 146.3km/h missile that dismissed Rangana Herath in the closing stages of the Test would also have troubled far more accomplished batsmen.

''Bowlers generally don't have enough confidence in it because if they miss it, it's a half-volley or a full toss and goes for four,'' said Gillespie, who mentored Starc at Yorkshire this winter during the 22-year-old's stint in county cricket.

''As I explain to our bowlers, 'what if you actually nail it?' It's a dangerous weapon … if you practise something often enough you get better at it.

''It needs to be given that respect and practised as often as a length ball or a slower ball.''

There is no doubt about Starc's belief in the need to make the yorker a vital part of his artillery.

''The pleasing thing was he worked really hard when he was at Yorkshire. [He] practised his yorker a lot,'' Gillespie said.

''He had sessions when he would just bowl his yorkers and work on getting better at those.

''I watched the last Test match and he got a couple of wickets with yorkers. It doesn't surprise me because he's worked hard at that particular skill in his game.''

Gillespie is confident Starc will be able to swing the ball back into the right-hander, which is considered vital if a left-armer is to have a long shelf life in the international game.

''With the old ball we've seen he can get that reverse swing away from the right-hander into the left-hander … I'm convinced he can, with the old ball and the new ball, have that real weapon,'' Gillespie said.

In a summer that has tested the resilience of quicks around the country, Starc has managed to stay sound, which Gillespie attributes to the paceman's work ethic.

''He was given a very, very challenging training program from Cricket Australia [at Yorkshire] and that was part of a criteria for him to come over and play county cricket,'' Gillespie said.

''There were times he was absolutely spent and could barely scratch himself with all the hard work that he was doing off the field and playing as well.

''It's no surprise to me he's having success because of the time and effort he's put into his fitness work and his skills. It's a testament to the lad.''